Geek stuff


Wikipedia to start plugging celebrity leaks

Gone are the days of adding hilarious bogus information to politician’s Wikipedia entries: the site will now require that edits made by new contributors be checked before they go live, in an effort to stem the tide of bogus information about celebrities.

Wikipedia hits 3m articles: milestone or mess?

Collaborative online encyclopedia Wikipedia has reached its three millionth English language article. But is it a milestone for free and open knowledge, or a sign the site is becoming too bloated? The “quality or quantity” issue divides many of the site’s contributors.

What would Warhol think of the Web?

The internet has made Andy Warhol’s famous prediction that “In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes” a reality. So what would the pop artist himself make of the web today? Would he be blogging? Tweeting? Digg-ing? Former friends share their opinions.

Gartner predicts tech’s hot-and-not

Market research company Gartner has released their 2009 “Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies”, declaring what the next big things in tech will be — and what’s yesterday’s news. Amongst their predictions: Twitter is on the way out, e-books have hit their peak, and internet TV is on the up-and-up.

What’s.next? The net gets a new look

The intertubes are set for a radical shake-up, with the net’s regulator, Icann, deciding to relax the rules on “top-level” domain names like as .com or .org, potentially allowing urls made from non-Roman scripts, business or individuals’ names.

Green groups see red in battle over .eco domain

Two environmental groups — one from the US backed by Al Gore, and another from Canada backed by the WWF — have locked horns over the rights to the internet domain ‘.eco’. At stake are two very noble, but very different, business plans for the address.

Video of the Day: The webcycle: peddle-powering the internet

Is this the answer to the obesity crisis? Using this ingenious invention, tubby geeks must peddle faster and faster to speed up their internet connection. Just think of the calories burned for a 24-hour WoW marathon!

Has Wikipedia already peaked?

Are bickering, unfriendly editors and spambots killing Wikipedia? A new study shows the once-booming growth of the collaborative online encyclopedia is tailing off, and the website could find itself in a vicious downward spiral of declining quality and contributor numbers.

Sci-fi: the new religion

Holy wars, ancient texts, breakaway sects, idols — science fiction fandom has it all, and its adherents’ worship can get more intense and bloody than zealots in major world religions.

VIDEO: TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington on Charlie Rose

TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington talks to Charlie Rose about Google vs. Microsoft Bing, e-readers, Facebook and his decision to publish those leaked Twitter documents.

How much is a petabyte?

Remember when a floppy disc held 360 kilobytes of data and a gigabyte was almost inconceivable? The next unit of storage you’ll be dealing with is a Petabyte. How much data is that? This infographic breaks it down.

How to get snapped by The Sartorialist

Want to get snapped by the internet’s hottest street photographer? Cut-out, keep and consult this handy flow-chart!

Nerd cakes: 10 dorky desserts

The Twitter Fail Whale, Captain Kirk, Super Mario Brothers and other uber-geeky icons in cake form.

20 years of the WWW

Yep, the World Wide Web is 20 years old. They grow up so fast! TechRadar takes a nostalgic look at the browser wars, the dotcom boom and a time when people still used chatrooms.

VIDEO: Underwater robot wars

What’s better than robot wars? Underwater robot wars.

100 things every geek should know

How to secure a wireless router, why it’s important that Han shot first, the Konami code… and 97 other things every self-respecting nerd, poindexter and egg-head should know.

Game on, Microsoft: Google to launch Operating System

Google has announced plans to release their own operating system in 2010, called Chrome OS, designed specifically for the online era. According to TechCrunch, “This is Google dropping the mother of bombs on its chief rival, Microsoft.”

The future of web fonts

For years, the internet has been constricted to 10 standard fonts. The technology to go further exists, but can all the stakeholders unite for to break web typography free from its Georgia/Verdana prison?

Geek up your ties with the Matrix “Merovingian knot”

Declare your love and dedication to the Matrix trilogy with this step-by-step guide to tying your tie just like “The Merovingian”. Guaranteed hit with the ladies.

Take a virtual newsroom tour

10,000 Words checks out the best online, virtual newsroom tours, letting viewers experience where the magic of where the media happens, without having to interact with icky real journalists.

How much money is YouTube losing?

It’s no secret YouTube are losing money — but just how much? The figure could be anywhere between $174.2 million and $470.6 million.

Following the Iranian election aftermath online

With all the post-election madness taking place in Iran, the best way to get up-to-the-minute (and accurate) news is online. Vanity Fair has a watcher’s guide to the best web-based news resources.

Wikipedia: the hardback edition

Artists Rob Matthews has printed all 2559 of Wikipedia’s featured articles into a lovely hardback edition of 5000 pages.

The fastest things on Earth

Planes, trains, bikes and elevators — Switched lists the speediest man-made contraptions on the planet.

Smartbooks: the next big things in mobile computing?

It’s half-way between a smartphone and a netbook; it’s the Smartbook, and it could be the next big thing in mobile technology.